The Pittsburgh Pirates gave last year's No. 4 pick, Clemson pitcher Daniel Moskos, a $2.474 million bonus. The Orioles expect to sign Matusz long before the Aug. 15 deadline for relinquishing his rights.
"This kid has a lot of intangibles," said Mark Ralston, the Orioles' Southern California scout, who tracked Matusz. "He has the ability to make big pitches in pressure situations, excellent work habits, very articulate."
Threads of the sport run through Matusz, 21, like the stitches on a baseball. His father coached him through the seventh grade. His older brother, Chris, played at Iowa Wesleyan. Matusz practically had to be dragged home in Cave Creek, Ariz., for dinner.
He has been playing golf since preschool and is exceptional off the tee box. He also developed a love for the beach in San Diego and recently took up surfing. But nothing will ever replace baseball in his life. And that became apparent from the time he could pick up a bat.
"Every night, we were at a Little League field, and particularly on Saturdays, when we got up early," said his father, who coached and umpired while his wife, Liz, worked the snack bar. "Brian would be with his friends playing catch and T-ball. He'd be out on the field all day long, when it's already 100 degrees in Arizona, and invariably we'd pull up to the house and the three of us were wiped out, and he'd say, `Dad, let's play catch.' And I never refused to play catch with my boys. So we'd play until he got it out of his system. That's when I first saw something special going on with him."
Eventually, the outsiders began to catch on.
"What really impressed me was when he pitched in relief against Texas as a freshman and handled himself very well in a high-pressure situation that most coaches wouldn't put a freshman into," Ralston said. "That's when we first identified some of the intangibles, not only that he'd be a big league pitcher but a top-of-the-rotation pitcher who would be very successful."
Joe Jordan, the Orioles' director of scouting, was equally impressed by Matusz during their breakfast meeting a few weeks before the draft.
"He just struck me as an intellectual kid, a thinker," Jordan said. "He asks great questions. He can articulate it. He put me at ease, really. He talked about his mom and dad. Just a solid guy. I'm really happy with what we're getting."
And if his first pitch as a pro sails six feet over the plate umpire's head, he'll just shrug it off. Knowing Matusz, he has already convinced himself that it's going to be his day.
"Baseball is something I love to do," he said. "It's my passion."
roch.kubatko@baltsun.com
